Exercising on our stationary bike has been increasingly frustrating for me, to the point where there were many days I didn't even bother. I've mentioned my debilitating back pain before (my lumbar pillow with built-in heating/cooling pad pouch just arrived, yay!), and chalked up my inability to get to the requisite "ten minutes minimum then start increasing" as yet another sign of me going downhill. I was almost to the point of seriously considering looking into a scooter and ground-level living space, when Robin noticed I hadn't turned down the resistance on my bike. Well yeah, I said turning down the resistance is like cheating, isn't it? It means I'm not really doing what I need to be doing to get my cardio workout.
At which point he patiently explained to me, using the analogy of lifting weights:
What I'd been doing was the equivalent of lifting weights by starting with too many pounds, rather than starting with the lightest weights and increasing the repetitions of the lifts. To build fitness and endurance, you either use lighter weights or less resistance and you do more repetitions or longer on the bike, and you then gradually build up the time or repetitions until you get to your optimum number or length of time you want to exercise. Then and only then you start increasing the weight or the resistance. Using heavier weights for shorter amounts of time (Robin said) is what you do when you want to build up strength and muscle mass, not endurance. And I primarily need to build endurance and increase my heart rate. So the key is "little and often," with a gradual increase in time then in resistance.
I did 11½ minutes on the bike today, and actually felt like I'd done a real cardio workout.
Have I mentioned how much I love my husband?
At which point he patiently explained to me, using the analogy of lifting weights:
What I'd been doing was the equivalent of lifting weights by starting with too many pounds, rather than starting with the lightest weights and increasing the repetitions of the lifts. To build fitness and endurance, you either use lighter weights or less resistance and you do more repetitions or longer on the bike, and you then gradually build up the time or repetitions until you get to your optimum number or length of time you want to exercise. Then and only then you start increasing the weight or the resistance. Using heavier weights for shorter amounts of time (Robin said) is what you do when you want to build up strength and muscle mass, not endurance. And I primarily need to build endurance and increase my heart rate. So the key is "little and often," with a gradual increase in time then in resistance.
I did 11½ minutes on the bike today, and actually felt like I'd done a real cardio workout.
Have I mentioned how much I love my husband?
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